The 10th book of the Twelve Minor Prophets is The Book of Haggai. Haggai helped to mobilize ‘the remnant’ for the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, in 516 BC, after the Babylonian Exile. The book is made up of two chapters and contains four oracles. Oracle number one calls for the rebuilding of the Temple as a matter of urgency, oracle number two is designed to encourage the people in their building efforts, oracle number three contains a promise of blessing, and oracle number four declares that Zerubbabel will be established as the Davidic ruler.
Book number 11, The Book of Zechariah, was important to the development of Jewish and Christian eschatology. Zechariah, who was active from 520 BC to 518 BC, was a contemporary of the prophet Haggai. He may have been one of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. The Book of Zechariah has fourteen chapters. Only the first eight chapters are directly connected to the prophet. Chapters nine to eleven (Deutero-Zechariah) and chapters twelve to fourteen (Trito-Zechariah) are the work of other authors, working in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Zechariah’s night visions refer to the eschatological age - the end of the world. The visions include images of horsemen, horns, a man with a measuring line, Joshua and Satan, a golden lamp stand and olive tree, flying scroll and woman, and chariots. New Testament writers applied images used in chapters nine to fourteen to Jesus. Zechariah claimed that although YHWH had been angry with the Jews for seventy years, a day was coming when YHWH would seek to destroy all of the nations that fight against Jerusalem. Chapter fourteen describes a terrible plague that will afflict the nations that fight against Jerusalem. One prophecy, which came to nothing, predicted that Zerubbabel would set up the messianic reign.
Malachi, the last of the Minor Prophets, spoke to a people whose eschatological expectations remained unfulfilled. The author of the book is unknown - Malachi is a term that means my messenger. It was probably written between about 500 BC and 450 BC. The Book of Malachi, which contains four chapters, begins with an attack upon the priests of Israel over their crooked ways and sharp practice in the worship of YHWH. Malachi predicts YHWH will send Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord. According to Malachi the day of the Lord will ‘burn as an oven’. It will be the day on which the wicked burn, but those who fear YHWH are saved by the ‘Sun of righteousness’ who has ‘healing in his wings’.
Even though The Book of Daniel appears among the Ketuvim (writings) in Jewish tradition, in Christian tradition it appears among the Prophets. The Book of Daniel was written with the 6th century exile as a backdrop, however, many scholars assert it was written in the first half of the second century BC: a time when the Jews were being persecuted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The worship of YHWH was forbidden on pain of death, and an altar to Zeus Olympios erected in the Temple. Judas Maccabeus led the Jews in rebellion, and in December 164 BC was able to tear down the altar of Zeus and re-consecrate the Temple. He was killed two years later. It would seem that The Book of Daniel was composed in connection with these events. The Book of Daniel is an apocalyptic work. Apocalyptic literature is presented as revelation about the final age. It is usually pseudonymous. Authors of this kind of writing generally pretend to be characters of the past - Moses, Enoch, etc. This allows them to claim past events as prophecies about the future. For many centuries the apocalyptic nature of Daniel was overlooked; most scholars assumed it was a true history. The author of Revelation draws upon this book.
As previously stated, Jewish eschatology binds the future of Israel to the ultimate fate of all peoples. The prophets have supposedly predicted what the future of Israel will be. Most of them agree that Israel and Judah will be punished for their unfaithfulness to YHWH, that a remnant will return to the Promised Land, that they will fight a major war there with other nations, that YHWH will destroy the enemies of Israel, that an everlasting kingdom will be established by a messiah from the line of David, that Israel will be ‘high above all nations’, that Jerusalem will become the most important city on earth, and that YHWH would, from the Temple in Jerusalem, rule over all the kingdoms of the world. The prophets proclaim that Israel is the chosen instrument of YHWH, the one true god. Israel will be ‘a light to lighten the nations’. To manifest the meaning of its special relationship with YHWH to the world is Israel’s raison d’etre. It was expected that Israel would produce and ordered human society ruled by the justice of YHWH.